Vipassana meditation can be said to be the best interpretation of Socrates’ famous saying “Know Yourself”. Vipassana is a kind of insight, through traditional perception, to understand that the body and mind are actually impermanent changes. Vipassana meditation can gradually purify the mind and remove all forms of stubbornness. As stubbornness is eliminated, greed and ignorance are gradually weakened. This simple technique requires no external force, but only our own efforts. The method of Vipassana Meditation has a history of more than 2,500 years. In the process of looking for such a way to cultivate wisdom, the inventor believes that this method must meet four requirements:

1. It must be clearly explained in very simple language, because its purpose is to help people free from the habits of mind and body, not for advanced philosophical or religious discussions.

2. It must be verified by experiencing the true feelings in one’s own heart, because only the wisdom obtained through personal experience, not through reading and intelligent analysis, can truly bring people change.

3. It must be applicable to all people, regardless of gender, religion, belief, or cultural difference, and truly universal to anyone who wants to practice wisdom.

4. Everyone has perception, and its essence is the most fundamental science of interaction between “mind” and “matter”. Each person’s perception is unique because each person’s perception is a reflection of his or her previously accumulated habitual responses.

The normal duration of vipassana meditation is 12 days, but the specific duration is 10 days. There are 3 stages:

Stage 1: For the first three days, practice breathing and meditation.

In the first stage, what you need to do is to get rid of distracting thoughts, silence the whole process, and spend nearly 12 hours a day meditating or studying besides eating. The whole process is to sit still and observe your natural breathing. Even if the leg pain is unbearable, you must persist.

The famous Vipassana meditation teacher S. N. Goenka said, I know you are in pain, but this is a major operation without anesthesia on the mind, to remove the many pollutions deposited in the body, so that people can be free from pain and be liberated. Consciousness cannot solve this problem, because of the interaction between body and mind, impurities have penetrated into the deep layers of the body, so the body needs to be cleaned.

Breath is the best messenger connecting the body. We can both breathe on our own and control it, so Vipassana Breathing is the best tool for subconscious communication.

Stage 2: 4-7 days, Vipassana guidance and initial experience

Feel each part slowly, from head to toe, and don’t miss any part. Vipassana meditation for an hour without moving. Feel the cycle from head to toe over and over again, constantly observe your true self, and perceive your truest self.

In fact, this kind of meditation is very meaningful, because you can endure some pain in the process of understanding yourself, and at the same time, you can hone the endurance of your heart.

Stage 3: 8-10 days, Vipassana continues

Quickly sweep multiple parts of the body from top to bottom, just like a basin of water dripping down from the top of the head, wet all parts of the body as much as possible, and then slowly from head to foot and then from foot to head cycle to scan the body. At this moment, you may feel that some parts of your body that have been damaged are emerging.

As teacher S. N. Goenka said, During vipassana, impurities deposited by mind-body interaction can be cleaned out and then eliminated.  Perhaps in this short period of isolation from the world, you may not have gained much, but it will allow you to stop for a while and find your truest self.

The world is too noisy, and the heart is too impetuous.

We can’t be ruled by our emotions.

Take back your autonomy and be who you really are.